55 Gallon Reef Build

[Jason127]

Hello everyone, i would like some advice. I plan on starting up a 55 gallon reef aquarium and have done tons of research and i think i know alot now and im ready to start off with this idea. I dont want to spend a ton of money on a sump so i want to create an internal DIY sump. I want to know if this would work in the chamber, 1) main pump covered with a filter sock and with heater , 2) protein skimmer , 3) refugium with live rock and macro algae , 4) outflow ? Am i missing anything or can i add anything to make this better and also do i need any addittional filtration? Basically the sump would pertrude a good amount just under a 1/3 of the width of the tank covering the whole back. Now on the downside it does make my tank way smaller but i do not plan to house large fish such as tangs anyways i just want soft corals mainly and some LPS corals and a small community like clownfish cardinals and clean a up crew. I also have a T5 high output light and the skimmer is a reef octopus 800. Do i have everything i need (equiptment wise) to start a successful reef? I am new to this hobby and want to make sure i have everything i need to start this off properly.

 

[lmforbis]

Your plan should work. Skip the filter sock. They clog very very fast and usually go where the water is dumped into the sump not around the pump. A 55 is only 12 inches front to back you'd lose a ton of space in the tank for the rocks by Putting the internal sump in the back. You might look at a 75 gallon instead it is almost the same foot print but is 18" front to back instead of 12.

It seems like it would be easier to make the sump out of say a 10 gallon or a 20 gallon long tank and plumb it to below your tank in the stand. Those tanks can be gotten very cheap and if you watch ***** has a dollar per gallon sale every few months and you can get a tank cheap. You can then put all your equipment in that allowing you to use the full volume of your tank.

You could also just buy a hang on refugium or skip it entirely. Most of the filtration comes from the live rock in the tank and you have a skimmer. Since you are planning on softies and LPS that will be plenty of filtration.

You will need at least one power head, two would be better placed at opposite ends of the tank. They can be gotten inexpensively on Amazon. You need test kits for Ammonia, nitrite, and Nitrate. These three you need first to monitor your tank cycle. Once the cycle is over you will need pH, phosphate, calcium, magnesium, and alkalinity. It is important to keep your water chemistry very consistent. Your lighting will be fine, not sure how many bulbs it has. I'd want 4 at least. You also want to make sure the bulbs are good quality bulbs. I use either ATI or Giessman bulbs. These will need to be changed every 9-12 months. Preferable not all at once.